Florida bicycle news and comment, with a special eye toward
making streets and paths more congenial to riders.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Dallas plans for bicycle commuting

Big cars and oil may form the image of Dallas, but in the eyes of the city's mayor and urban planners, the future requires bicycle commuting.

North Texas' increasingly congested roads and persistent pollution problems are making bicycles a hot topic among urban planners, real estate developers and a growing number of commuters.

Part of the solution will be overcoming people's idea that bike commuters are rugged athletic types. I've heard that here in Miami, too. But the greatest immediate potential for bikes is in replacing those gas-wasting short trips that barely let a car warm up to an efficient operating level.

P.M. Summer, transportation alternatives coordinator for the city of Dallas: "When I came into this job, our thinking was we needed to enable cyclists to make 40-mile bike trips. Now my thinking is we need to have development in place that allows a cyclist to make a one-mile bike trip."